Friday, November 21, 2014

Justin Raimondo reviews Sharyl Attkisson's book

If the revelations of Edward Snowden didn’t convince you that we’re living
in a police state, then Sharyl Attkisson’s book, Stonewalled:
My Fight for Truth Against the Forces of Obstruction, Intimidation, and Harassment
in Obama’s Washington, is the clincher. Indeed, it is more convincing
insofar as the reporting that came out of Snowden’s disclosures never definitively
demonstrated how such powerful technology in the hands of unrestrained government
has led to the targeting of political opponents by government officials. In
Attkisson’s book, the ultimate Orwellian nightmare comes true….It’s 3:14 in the morning when Sharyl Attkisson – star CBS reporter –
is wakened by a noise: her computer has come to life, unbidden – again.
It’s been happening a lot lately: and it’s not just her desktop Apple.
The other night her Toshiba laptop clicked on all by itself. And her
phones are so afflicted with clickings and other mysterious noises as to
be unusable.Attkisson, a 20-year veteran of the CBS newsroom, has been investigating some pretty hot stories: "Fast and Furious,"
the code name for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF)
program that let US guns "walk" over the border and into the hands of
Mexican drug cartels, and the Benghazi incident, among others. She knew
the administration considered her an adversary (as these emails prove),
an obnoxious pit bull out to trip them up, but she never imagined they
would go so far as to spy on her. It’s the fall of 2012, and Snowden’s
secrets are still under wraps. A friend with a connection to "a
three-letter agency" expresses admiration for her coverage of
Benghazi-gate and then clues her in:"’You know, the administration is likely monitoring you – based on
your reporting. I’m sure you realize that.’ He makes deep eye contact
for emphasis before adding, ‘The average American would be shocked at
the extent to which this administration is conducting surveillance on
private citizens. Spying on them.’"Incredulous, Attkisson asks: "Monitoring me? In what way?""Your phones. Your computers. Have you noticed any unusual happenings?"

I was glad to see a review of the book beyond the sexist slams Kevin Drum's offered.

And on that . . .

Two women run Mother Jones.

And yet they keep hiring men like Kevin Drum -- who supported the Iraq War.

Thursday, November 20, 2014. Chaos and violence continue, the Kurdish
government is too eager to please the US government, VA officials
attended a Senate hearing on veteran suicides without even bothering to
brush up on basic figures (figures they should already know to perform
their jobs), and much more.

AFP notes, "A suicide bomber driving a car packed with explosives blew
himself up in the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan region on Wednesday,
killing at least five people in the first big attack there in more than
a year."

While Baghdad, the capital of central Iraq, and surrounding areas have
been plagued with violence, the same has not been true of northern Iraq
and the provinces making up the semi-autonomous Kurdish Regional
Governments and especially not true of the city of Erbil.

The attack in the KRG capital on Wednesday should have caused some soul searching on the part of the government.

The Peshmerga are an elite Kurdish fighting force that's done a strong job protecting the KRG.

The attack yesterday should make the KRG re-evaluate the decision to send the KRG here, there, everywhere outside the KRG.

The attack should have the KRG questioning the decision to send the Peshmerga to Kobani.

Not only is that not a city bordering the KRG, it's not even in Iraq.

Why is the Peshmerga being deployed to Syria, to an area bordering Turkey?

This started at the beginning of the month.

The Peshmerga should be used to protect the KRG and any areas that immediately border the KRG.

Kobani is a Syrian border town -- it borders Turkey. It's not even remotely near a Kurdish border.

Seems the Kurdish government's a little too eager to assist the US -- so much so that it's leaving their own region in danger.

Maybe it's the hope that, yet again, if they just try a little harder, the US will be a loyal partner?

That pathetic need has never accomplished anything for the Kurds.

And this week, they've been slamming the US government for not supplying them with weapons.

Foreign Affairs Chairman Ed Royce, R-Calif., and ranking member Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., introduced temporary legislation to arm the Peshmerga forces
in their fight against the Islamic State (IS). Doing so would mark a
reversal of current US policy, which has sought to reinforce the central
government in a bid to stop the country from splintering along ethnic and sectarian lines."We thought a long time ago that our appeals to Baghdad to do the
right thing would be heard and [former Prime Minister Nouri al-]
Maliki's government turned a deaf ear month after month. We've reached
the point where we have allies to our cause of defeating [IS] fighting
in the field, without adequate equipment, and we are determined to see
that they obtain it," Royce told Al-Monitor. "We want the weapons in the
hands of the Peshmerga that are on the front line, now."The bill comes in the wake of an international public relations push
by the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG). Top Kurdish officials —
including Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir, Head of the Department of
Foreign Relations, and presidential Chief of Staff Fuad Hussein — were
in Washington this week handing out a list of demands to lawmakers and
administration officials, while President Massoud Barzani berated western powers for not providing his forces enough weapons during an interview on French television Nov. 19.

India TV reports the Islamic State issued a statement claiming credit for the bombing in Erbil -- claiming credit for the bombing All Iraq News notes is the worst Erbil's seen "since September 29, 2013." Mitchell Prothero (McClatchy Newspapers) adds, "The city has remained largely untouched by Iraq’s violence, even after
the Islamic State seized nearby Mosul in June and pushed the front lines
to within about 30 miles. Kurdish security officials, however, have
feared a campaign of terror, noting that hundreds of thousands of
refugees have pressed into Kurdish areas from regions now dominated by
the Islamic State."

QUESTION: Okay. Last night, I ran into the chief of staff of
the Kurdistan president’s – Barzani, he’s the chief of staff of Barzani.
And he talks about perhaps 100,000 – upward of 100,000 ISIL members in
Iraq and Syria. Do you have any comment on that?MR. RATHKE: I don’t have any update on numbers that --QUESTION: Okay.MR. RATHKE: We’ve spoken to numbers in the past --QUESTION: Right.MR. RATHKE: -- and the general estimates, but I don’t have an updated number to share.QUESTION: Do you think these kind of figures that are
staggering, I mean, would they, let’s say, influence U.S. policy in
terms of having boots on the ground or having forces on the ground, at
least in Iraq or in the near future?MR. RATHKE: Well, again, I’m not going to comment on that
particular number. I’m just not familiar with it. And I think also, the
President and the entire Administration have been quite clear about our
policy with respect to troops in combat roles.QUESTION: Okay. I mean – okay. In view of the additions that
took place last week – we’re talking about maybe an additional 1,500
whatever, advisors, military advisors and so on, and perhaps a
discussion, as was done with General Dempsey last week, there is an
indication that these forces might be involved in combat. Is there a
likelihood that these forces might be involved in combat, if not
directly, in an advisory kind of capacity?MR. RATHKE: Again, I think the President has spoken to this
quite clearly in just recent days. I don’t have anything to add to his
words. There’s – we do not envision U.S. forces in combat roles.QUESTION: Now, also, there are reports that the Iraqi forces,
with American advisors, are getting ready to recapture Heet. It’s a
town, a township called Heet or a city that’s called Heet. Do you have
any comment on that?MR. RATHKE: I don’t have a specific comment on that particular
location. I did comment at the start about the success of Iraqi forces
in breaking the siege at Baiji refinery, but I don’t have operational
comments on every particular location.Anything staying – wait, staying with Iraq?QUESTION: Yeah.MR. RATHKE: Okay. Go ahead.QUESTION: Chairman Royce today introduced legislation that
would provide the President with authority to give arms directly to the
Kurds. Do you have any comment or reaction on that?MR. RATHKE: I’m not familiar with the legislation that you
have referred to, so I don’t want to comment on that. But we have spoken
on several occasions about the matter of arms for Kurdish security
forces and overall to the Iraqi Security Forces. Our position on that
hasn’t changed. We continue to be supporters of Iraq’s Security Forces,
of the Kurdish security forces as well.And it’s our understanding that there was some discussion yesterday,
which you may recall, about whether there were delays in shipments. I’d
just like to point out, to kind of close that loop from yesterday, that
the Government of Iraq has cleared and inspected incoming aircraft
carrying weapons deliveries, but we are not aware that it has
constrained or delayed the emergency supply of weapons to the Kurdistan
Regional Government. That was a point made or a question raised
yesterday.And as well, the Government of Iraq itself has delivered over 300
tons of supplies in Iraqi air force aircraft to the KRG. We are
committed to helping the Iraqi Security Forces and the Kurdish security
forces. Also, many of our coalition partners have been very supportive
of Iraqi Kurdish forces. So we plan to continue that kind of support
going forward.QUESTION: Okay. So I guess the question is: Are you happy with
the way things are currently going, with the current state of affairs,
and thus do you not see any need for a change, any need for what’s
contained in this legislation as a general proposition?MR. RATHKE: Well, it remains the U.S. Government policy that
all arms transfers should be coordinated through the sovereign, central
Government of Iraq. We have no plans that I’m aware of to change that.QUESTION: Yeah, but the legislation calls for direct supplies to the Kurds without the --MR. RATHKE: I understand that question, but again, I’m not
familiar with that legislation, so I don’t want to comment on it. But I
simply want to indicate that our policy remains the same. Now, are we
happy with the overall situation in Iraq? Of course not. That’s why we
are leading a global coalition to disrupt and defeat ISIL. But that’s –
we are very supportive of Iraqi and Kurdish security forces in that
effort.

So that was -- Uh, wait. What was that about Heet?

QUESTION: Now, also, there are reports that the Iraqi forces, with
American advisors, are getting ready to recapture Heet. It’s a town, a
township called Heet or a city that’s called Heet. Do you have any
comment on that?MR. RATHKE: I don’t have a specific comment on that particular
location. I did comment at the start about the success of Iraqi forces
in breaking the siege at Baiji refinery, but I don’t have operational
comments on every particular location.Anything staying – wait, staying with Iraq?

The US-led coalition against the
ISIS seems to be crumbling as there have been reports on social media
that several "Saudi pilots" have allegedly refused to fly missions to
bomb ISIS targets.The report, which was confirmed by an Iraqi journalist and political analyst,
is bound to have severe repercussions not only on the coalition, but it
may also spread the seeds of rebellion among other branches of the
Saudi armed forces.

Violence continued throughout Iraq today. Margaret Griffis (Antiwar.com) reports, "At least 142 people were killed
across Iraq, and another six were wounded. Almost all the casualties
belonged to militants; however, there is a report that several children died
from exposure after being forced to flee their homes in Anbar province."

In other news, Katherine Skiba (Chicago Tribune) reports
US House Rep Tammy Duckworth gave birth this week to a baby girl
Abigail O'kalani Bowlsbey. Duckworth was in the news last week and this
week because House Democrats voted on various leadership positions this
week and Tammy had requested to vote by proxy because she was unable to
fly to DC per doctor's orders.

That didn't matter for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi who led the
"no" against Tammy's request. Tammy Duckworth is also an Iraq War
veteran who lost both legs while serving in Iraq. That didn't matter to
Nancy either.

Craven liar and plastic surgery victim Nancy Pelosi went on to Tweet this crap:

On this #VeteransDay, let us salute the indomitable courage & selfless sacrifice of the heroes who have served our nation in uniform.

0 replies77 retweets51 favorites

As she proved by spitting on Tammy Duckwork and Tim Walz and on the
publicly expressed wishes of veterans groups, her so-called claims to
"salute" those who served are nothing but more lies from Nancy's mouth.

She's an embarrassment to the country and she's lethal to the Democratic Party.

Her disrespect of veterans will not be forgotten but will be her legacy, what the elderly woman will be remembered for.

The House Veterans Affairs Committee needs real leadership.

The VA has had one scandal after another in the last six years.

When Corrine Brown managed to haul herself to a HVAC hearing, she didn't
serve veterans. She made excuses for the VA, she offered non-stop
praise for the VA, she went out of her way to blame the VA's problems
and scandals on veterans.

And now this idiot -- thanks to Nancy Pelosi -- is a vote away from
being the Democratic leader on the House Veterans Affairs Committee.

If you don't get what liars the VA officials are, let's drop back to yesterday's Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing.

Senator Richard Blumenthal: I want to pursue the line of questioning
that Senator Johans began because I think it is absolutely critical.
I've held meetings around my state with veterans. Some of them have
occurred at what are called oasis which are basically college and school
based centers. They're not medical, they're just meeting rooms. They
are literally a room where veterans can come together and call that
place their own. And they put up their posters, they have a coffee
machine, they have doughnuts and they just come together "without
medication" -- in quotes. I met with a group just a week or so ago and
they talked to me about -- in very graphic, moving terms -- about what
it meant just to be with each other. So I know that peer support
specialists are part of this program. With all due respect to the peer
support specialist, I would respectfully suggest that this kind of
resource may not always require a trained specialist but may just
require a veteran -- and I have in mind the kind of veteran who got
involved in part because I reached out to him at the suggestion of
another veteran -- just made a call to him out of the blue. And he came
to one of these meetings. So I don't think it involves necessarily a
doctor, a nurse, a medical person but just a veteran who is empowered
and enabled to perform this function. So I don't want to use too much
of my time with a statement about the importance of this topic but I
would like to know -- and maybe you could provide this in writing --
specifically what the current peer support program embodies and how it
could be expanded to fund meeting rooms on state campuses -- state
schools which already which already should be a part of this program,
private colleges and universities. But then beyond the college or
school setting, in communities, how that outreach function could be
expanded and I -- I know this is a topic you are thinking about so I
would appreciate your expanding on the testimony that you've given
already. I do want to ask you about your testimony because I do think
that there are some very important questions about the age group that
you don't cover. We're talking about middle aged veterans which, as I
understand it, are the 35 to 64-year-old group? And in that group,
rates of suicide have come down by 16% for those adults who use VHS
services. In the population as a whole, the rates have remained stable.
Correct?Dr. Dean Krahn: [witness off mike]Senator Richard Blumenthal: Well they've gone up for the -- Exactly,
they've gone up from 35.5 to 37.5 percent. Right? So the rates are
coming down for middle aged adults who use VA services. Rates have gone
up a little bit for the overall group. But they seem fairly stable --
35 to 37%Dr. Dean Krahn: Uh -- authenticate the time with numbers -- uh, yeah, go ahead.Senator Richard Blumenthal: Well here's where I'm going, what that
says to me is that among other age groups, suicide rates have risen
dramatically for veterans who use your services. Dr. Dean Krahn: Yes.Senator Richard Blumenthal: Not just women but men.Dr. Dean Krahn: Yes.Senator Richard Blumenthal: Can you tell me how much they've risen,
for example, for -- and this is, so far as I can see, no where in your
testimony for the age group 18 to 25 for 20 to 29, for the younger
population of veterans because after all most of the veterans who are
leaving the service right now are in that younger age group, right? So
what's the rate there Dr. Caitlin Thompson: Yeah, we are -- we are extremely concerned about this population --Senator Richard Blumenthal: Yes, I know you're concerned but --Dr. Caitlin Thompson: I don't have the actual -- I believe it's up
to 70 -- uh -- and this is, uh, over time. The rates -- uh . . . I'd
have to find the exact number.Senator Richard Blumenthal: I think that is a -- I think that is the elephant in the room.Dr. Caitlin Thompson: Is . . what's . . .Senator Richard Blumenthal: The elephant in this room. That younger group. You're giving us middle aged veterans Dr. Caitlin Thompson: No --Senator Richard Blumenthal: -- who use your services .Dr. Caitlin Thompson: We do -- I mean, we certainly do acknowledge
that that rate is increasing and so what-what are we doing about this?
We need to provide and we are providing very, very specific outreach to
those youngest veterans that --Senator Richard Blumenthal: Well we're talking about more than just
outreach with all due respect. We're talking about -- and this is the
really critical point here -- we're talking about a group here that uses
your services.Dr. Caitlin Thompson: Absolutely.Senator Richard Blumenthal: We've reached out to them.Dr. Caitlin Thompson: Yep.Senator Richard Blumenthal: They're in your doors, they're using your services -- Dr. Caitlin Thompson: Yep.Senator Richard Blumenthal: And they're committing suicide at a higher rate.Dr. Caitlin Thompson: Yes. So we're -- Yes. We're trying to
understand why is this? We are -- We are at a loss as much -- as much
as a lot of people are. We --Senator Richard Blumenthal: This is -- with all of the publicity
surrounding wait time, people dying -- are they dying because of the
wait time, are they not? People are dying at a higher rate --Dr. Caitlin Thompson: Yes.Senator Richard Blumenthal: -- who use your services.Dr. Caitlin Thompson: Yes. Yes, in this youngest age group. Aboslutely. We are very, very focused on this.Senator Richard Blumenthal: I don't know what more to say because my time has expired. I apologize Mr. Chairman --Dr. Caitlin Thompson: We hear you.Senator Richard Blumenthal: -- but,-- okay, thank you.

They came to talk about suicides but they didn't have the basic figures?

I don't believe "we hear you" from the VA.

Not when the officials can't -- or more likely won't -- provide answers
to basic questions like the suicide rate for young veterans.

This was such a basic detail that if the VA officials really didn't have
that figure handy at the hearing, that may be an even more damning
example of how unprepared the VA is and how little thought and effort
they put into addressing issues.

Her job, Caitlin Thompson's job, is to know that figure.

Forget that she should have prepared for the hearing by having that and other figures handy.

Doing her day-to-day job requires her to know that figure. Her failure to do so goes to her failure at the job.

Senator Blumenthal questioned the VA.

Corrine Brown only compliments and sees her role as to excuse its actions and blame VA problems on veterans.